


life with you is (warm, laughter, rain, relief, quiet, pleasure, promise) heaven

by ohallows



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, Other, Post-Canon, Sappy, Sign Language, Underwater, i am emotional, implied czb, slightly suggestive only in words but nothing much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohallows/pseuds/ohallows
Summary: It’s nice, saving the world. Cel has endless time for experiments, now. They’d built themselves a little lab in the add-on to the cottage that they and Barnes had fallen in love with, and they spend most of their time there. Barnes is a perfect assistant, when he’s not out fishing, and not only because he lets Cel kiss him anytime they make a breakthrough.
Relationships: Commander James Barnes/Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	life with you is (warm, laughter, rain, relief, quiet, pleasure, promise) heaven

**Author's Note:**

> title is from 'sentimental' by WMD which i've had on repeat recently
> 
> CELBARNES NATION HOW ARE WE **FUCKING** FEELING TONIGHT!!!!!! WE HAVE SPOKEN IT INTO EXISTENCE WE HAD PLANTED THE SEED AND WE HAVE SEEN THE HARVEST!!!! I HAVENT STOPPED THINKING ABT THIS SINCE IT HAPPENED!!!!
> 
> lydia: someone has to have realised that this hasn’t been subtle  
> me: I DID LYDIA I SURE AS HELL DID KING 
> 
> i’m so. god im so happy i love these fools so MUCH barnes u dumb awkward baby ALTHOUGH now i once again need to re-evaluate how i write him. its fine.
> 
> once again: noot’s cel and kim’s barnes! both hot. both nice. em’s zolf too at this point. (also barnes assisting cel in the lab is absolutely from noot i have shamelessly stolen it)

It’s nice, saving the world. No one ever talks about how much  _ time  _ you have afterwards, when there’s no longer a world to save. Of course, there’s always the rebuilding time; it’s been nearly a year, now, since they went back to London and saved the world and stopped the infection. The months after had been a nightmare - the infection hadn’t been cured everywhere instantly, and then there had been everything with the Harlequins and the Meritocrats, but the world had gone back to whatever’s considered normal nearly six months ago. 

Cel has endless time for experiments, now. They’d built themselves a little lab in the add-on to the cottage that they and Barnes had fallen in love with, and they spend most of their time there. Since building it, they’ve already decoded nearly three quarters of Shoin’s notes on improving potions, and they’re working through the testing now. 

Barnes is a perfect assistant, when he’s not out fishing, and not only because he lets Cel kiss him anytime they make a breakthrough. He’s started learning their little names for the tools and he’s actually got some good ideas that Cel hadn’t considered before. They’ve started working on a new project - anniversary gifts for him and Zolf and Azu and Hamid and everyone else - and they’ve been careful about hiding it anytime Barnes is in the lab with them. He knows  _ something _ , though; Cel can see it in his eyes, even if he doesn’t say anything.

All in all, it’s a pretty idyllic life. Azu and Kiko come often; Hamid comes less so, busy with the bank as he helps his sister and brother as their father has started to take a step back. Zolf is there nearly eight months out of the year, out on the ocean for the other four, and Cel and Barnes make the most of those months while they can.

Today, Zolf is grumbling over in the corner, rifling through one of the bags of holding that Cel unearthed the other day. They’d gotten lost in the move, somehow; they’re sure Hamid and Azu have a few as well, but Zolf needed something to do so Cel had tossed them to him and he’d gone to work. There are some funny things in there, as well. An old, dog-eared Campbell novel (which Zolf smiles fondly at), a  _ lot  _ of paper (that would probably have been helpful if they’d remembered it earlier), some old metal tools (which probably belonged to Cel at some point), and a number of items that Cel can’t place, exactly. It’s probably Zolf’s bag, if they had to guess.

“ _ Gods,”  _ they hear, and peer over the top of the book they’re engrossed with ( _ not  _ a Campbell, no offense to Zolf) to see Zolf with an entire pile of potions in front of him. They’re all different shapes and sizes of glass bottle, with weird, illegible scribbles over the side that have gone to seed with time.

“What’re those?” they ask, bookmarking their page and setting it down on the cushion next to them. Zolf looks up at them, picking up one of the potions, and shakes his head.

“Remember Shoin’s?” he asks, and tosses one of the bottles to Cel. “We stocked up, right? And then didn’t see literally any water after that?” 

Cel catches it, miraculously, and unstoppers the bottle and gives it a whiff. “Oh, right!” they exclaim. “The water breathing potions! I forgot we’d taken these. Gods, how many  _ are  _ there?”

“About twenty, by my count,” Zolf says, and then digs in a bit farther until his entire arm is buried in the bag of holding. “Can hear more rattling around in there, though.”

Something clicks in Cel’s head as they inspect the potion, and they sit up straight on the sofa as the gears start to quickly turn. There’s a faint whisper of memory there, and a smile splits across their face as they realise that they have the perfect way to use these. 

“So, hypothetically,” they say, leaning forward and resting their chin in their hands. “These should still work?”

Zolf shrugs. “You're the potions genius, you tell  _ me.  _ Haven’t the foggiest.”

Cel sniffs at the bottle again and considers. It doesn’t seem to be out of date, and the potions would probably have been made in bulk to last. One year shouldn’t be enough to make them go completely bad; Cel will have to keep an eye on the time this go, but they should be good for their purpose. 

“We definitely won’t need these? Right?” Cel asks, just to be sure. Zolf shakes his head.

“Can’t think of why we would,” Zolf says. “Plus, I’m sure you could make them better if we did.”

Cel preens at that and stands up from the sofa, heading over to the table. They snag another potion and then, after a moment to consider, grab another two on top of that, just to be safe. It might last longer than they think it will.

Zolf raises an eyebrow at them, but doesn’t say anything as Cel slips them into their pocket. They give him a quick kiss on the top of the head paired with a grateful smile, and then run off to find Barnes.

They have a promise to keep.

\--

So, Cel has a brilliant idea. 

All of their ideas are brilliant, actually, even if Jasper never thought so, but this one is  _ just  _ a step above. They  _ can’t  _ believe they forgot for so long; it’s a promise they made over a year ago, sure, but that’s no excuse. It’s why they want to remedy it now - Zolf just told them to bring Barnes back by supper, and Cel had immediately run out to grab Barnes.

And now, they’re here tying a bandana around his eyes. He lets them, only giving a minor protest at the action before letting his hands fall. Cel finishes tying the bandana and stands him up, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before they spin him around. 

“Do I get to know where you’re taking me, then?” Barnes asks conversationally, hands held out in front of himself.

Cel carefully leads him out of the little houseboat out back and down the path to the coast. They realise that the bandana is a bit redundant considering that Barnes  _ definitely  _ knows the path by heart, and also knows where Cel is leading him.

“Just trust me!” Cel says, and then leads Barnes over the stones that litter the coast. “It’ll be great.”

Barnes doesn’t respond, but he seems unconcerned about the mystery, and lets Cel help him pick his way down to the shoreline. Eventually, they make it all the way, with the water nearly lapping at their feet. The salt from the ocean blows over them, and Cel takes a moment to inhale the scent, resting their chin on Barnes’ shoulder for a moment. They pull back, reaching up to untie the bandana, and tuck it back into their pouch as they let Barnes open his eyes again. He looks over the ocean, waves gently lapping against the shoreline, and Cel runs their hand through his hair at the wistful look in his eyes.

“Come on,” Cel murmurs, and takes his hand as they kick their shoes off and set them by the rocks. Barnes follows suit in short order, and then raises an eyebrow.

“Why’d you blindfold me just to get me down here?” he asks, and Cel smacks themselves in the face. 

“I dunno,” they groan, long and drawn out, letting their hand slide down their face. “It seemed like a good idea at the  _ time,  _ and then I was already halfway through tying it and it would have been dumb to just  _ stop,  _ and then we were  _ walking  _ and I was excited!”

Barnes just laughs at that, pressing a kiss to their cheek. Cel shoves his face away, good naturedly, and then rummages around in their pockets for the two bottles they’d swiped from Zolf. It takes them a moment to find the correct ones, but eventually they pull them out with a flourish and pull their coat off, dropping it onto the rocks as well. 

“Here,” Cel says, and hands him one of the bottles. “Bottoms up!” 

They down it in one, wincing a bit at the taste - that will  _ definitely  _ be something to improve on, in future, but for now they suppose it’s bearable. The effect seems to be instantaneous; the cool, brisk air around them feels thinner as they breathe it in. Their chest is tighter as well, and they make another note to fix this when they make their own.

Barnes gives the glass bottle in his hand a concerned glance, and then looks up at Cel.

“Right,” he says, and unstoppers it. “Now, I love you. I trust you. You wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. But, I  _ do  _ have my limits, and I’ve just learned that being handed a strange liquid that  _ doesn’t  _ have your handwriting on the side is one of them. So. What is it?”

“It’s a water breathing potion!” Cel says. “Zolf was going through our old mission stuff - did you know we had an entire Simulacrum kill switch at one point? Just got buried in the bags of holding! - and he found loads of these. I’d forgotten we’d even picked them up. Didn’t turn out to be necessary, clearly, so I asked if I could borrow a few.”

“And they work?” Barnes asks, sounding sceptical. 

Cel glances down at their body. “Seems so. I mean, I haven’t turned into anything.”

Barnes gives them another look, but then shrugs. Cel figures that after nearly a year of being handed strange liquids and being asked to test them, this falls relatively low on the ‘worry’ scale. He downs the liquid as well, and then shivers as the effects take hold. 

“Right, well, that’s proper weird,” he says, rubbing at his neck. “Not sure about that.”

Cel waves a hand. “I’ll fix the next batch, promise. Now. You wanted to breathe underwater, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Barnes tilts his head, and then they light up with recognition. “I - wait, you - you remembered that? I mean, it - I wasn’t actually asking to breathe underwater, really, I - I mean, I’m definitely interested, but we -”

“Too late,” Cel says, and takes the empty bottle back from Barnes to set carefully next to their own on the rock where they’d left their shoes. “I mean, I know what you were  _ really _ asking, and we’ve done  _ that _ loads, but I think this would be fun! You’ve spent years on the ocean, right? Haven’t you ever been curious about what’s under it?”

“Cel, I don’t -“ Barnes says, staring at the water with badly hidden apprehension. 

Cel grabs his hand and pulls him a bit closer, walking backwards and trying to keep Barnes’ eyes on them. “It’ll be great! They should work!”

“...should? Cel, what do you mean, sh-“ The rest of what Barnes is saying is drowned out by a confused gurgle as Cel pulls him under the waves, holding his hands in theirs. 

Barnes surfaces, teeth chattering. “Gods, it’s  _ freezing,”  _ he mutters, and crowds close to Cel. “Why’d you pick  _ October  _ for this?”

Cel laughs and pulls him close, producing two more potions from their waterproof pouch. “I prepared for this!”

They hand one to Barnes; it’s a bastardisation of Endure Elements that Cel’s been working on for months. Barnes has actually been helping them with most of it, so he clearly recognises the colour and the bottle. He doesn’t hesitate with this one and downs in, handing the empty bottle back to Cel, and visibly slumps in relief. 

“That’s better, yeah,” he says, and leans back into the water until he’s floating on his back. 

Cel downs their own potion and then tucks both of the bottles back into their pouch, before grabbing Barnes’ ankle and pulling him closer. He sits up a bit and comes face to face with Cel, grinning a bit as they start to wade out into deeper water. It’s mucky, but Cel drags Barnes out until they’ve breached the sandbar, and then, with a wink, they slip under the water and take a big breath. 

It’s a bit of a strange sensation, breathing water instead of air. Barnes follows them and then immediately resurfaces, coughing and choking. Cel waits as he settles and then he ducks under again, taking another breath and getting used to the sensation. 

“This is weird,” he signs. Speaking underwater, sadly, isn’t a feature of the potion (another thing for Cel to improve upon), but Cel had started teaching him sign a while ago. 

“Follow me,” they sign back, slowly so that Barnes can read it, and then start to swim away. 

There’s not much off the coast, but the sun is filtering through the waves, and there are colourful fish that dash around them, coming closer to inspect the two of them before dashing away. They swim for a while, Cel pointing out the different creatures and fingerspelling their names as Barnes watches their fingers carefully, nodding when he’s gotten it. A few turtles swim by, curious, and Cel takes Barnes’ hand in theirs and presses it against one of the shells. 

Barnes’ smile is infectious, and he tugs Cel along to explore more, swimming through the seaweed, watching carefully as jellyfish float by, and waiting as more and more fish begin to spiral around them, creating a gorgeous underwater tornado of colour.

The two of them sink a bit lower and stop swimming. Cel pulls Barnes in, spinning them slowly in the water. He smiles at them and runs his hands through their hair, making it stand on end. They repay the favour, pulling the braid out and tucking Zolf’s tie around their wrist. His hair flows through the water as Cel brushes out the tangles, letting it float like a cloud around his head. He looks up at them; the sun is shining through the water, an oddly nice day for the coast, and it lights up the planes of his face and makes his eyes shine. 

Gods. Cel really loves him.

They pull him in, hands on the sides of his face, and their lips brush. Every time feels like the first time with him, and sparks shoot through their chest as they let their hands drift back to his hair. His hands settle on their waist, pulling them closer, and Cel lets themselves sink into the feeling of Barnes’ lips, soft and warm, against theirs. Cel loses track of time as they kiss. The current pulls at them, a gentle drift across their bodies, and Cel thinks that they could live in this moment forever and be happy with it. 

Eventually, it becomes harder for them to breathe, and not just because kissing Barnes leaves them breathless. Regretfully, they pull away from him, holding his hand in theirs as they kick up to the surface. They take a deep breath of air as they make it up, and Barnes follows, moving closer again as he presses their foreheads together. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, tangling his fingers in theirs. 

They end up back near the sandbar in the end, sitting on the edge and letting their legs dangle off of the edge as it drops into a trench. Barnes’ head is resting on Cel’s shoulder, wet hair causing water to drip down their arm and back.

“Never made out with someone underwater,” Cel muses, and Barnes laughs. 

“Never did  _ anything  _ underwater,” he says. “Well, until today, I suppose. But that was… nice.”

Cel smiles and turns a bit until they’re facing Barnes. Their arms loop around Barnes’ neck as they play with his hair. 

“You know, I could still be a dolphin,” they say, giving him a wink, and Barnes pushes their face away gently.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” he says, laughing. “Prefer you like this, if I’m being honest.”

“Sap,” Cel says, but it’s fond. Barnes just nuzzles a bit closer, nose and lips warm against the skin of their neck as the sun slowly warms the two of them.

Cel turns into a dolphin anyway in the end, splashing him, and they love how lovely Barnes’ laugh sounds above the waves.

**Author's Note:**

> why. do i blindfold barnes in all my fics. 
> 
> SO LIKE HOW ABOUT ALL THOSE WATERBREATHING POTIONS
> 
> i wrote this pretty quick and i don’t think it’s up to standard but thats fine im too hype to care


End file.
